"Marilyn Maybury" <m.maybury@blueyonder.co.uk> wrote..... > At the time of the 1841 and 1851 censuses (and possibly later), > there was a road or area of Thornton called 'Who Could Have > Thought It'. Does anyone know where this very unusual name > originated? On> a death certificate issued in 1843 it was > abbreviated to 'Thought It'.< "Who'd Have Thought It" is a pub name. It is by no means common, but there are a number of hostelries of the name scattered around the country. I suspect, therefore, there may once have been an inn of this name in the area, after which the general area became generically known to the locals. Just like surnames, place names were by no means standardised or sacrosanct in previous centuries. In many towns, for instance, a particular yard or street became known by the name of the person who built the houses, or a prominent business person who lived there - as in Smith's Yard, for example. Local councils, if they existed at all, did not observe strict control over names as they do today. Roy Stockdill (Editor, Journal of One-Name Studies) Newbies' Guide to Genealogy & Family History:- www.genuki.org.uk/gs/Newbie.html Never ask a man if he comes from Yorkshire. If he does he will tell you, if he does not why humiliate him? - Canon Sydney Smith